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Ignite Your Imagination | AUTUMN 2018
A MEMBERSHIP PUBLICATION OF THE OWLS HEAD TRANSPORTATION MUSEUM
Great Fall Auction! SATURDAY
OCT
27
You never know what will cross the block! The Museum’s popular Great Fall Auction is a perennial favorite featuring antiques and collectibles, housewares, furniture, tools and art, as well as hundreds of amazing items and gift certificates from community businesses. Admission and bidder registration are free. Come bid on travel packages, collectibles, pre-owned vehicles, art and more!
Auction starts at 10am
Auction Preview: Friday, October 26: 10-5pm; Saturday, October 27: 8:30-10am
Donations are enthusiastically accepted until Monday, October 22. All proceeds benefit Museum programs. Contribute your new or gently used quality goods, antiques, services and gift certificates by visiting the Museum or contact us today: (207)594-4418 or ks@ohtm.org
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Contents STRUT & AXLE | Autumn 2018
THOMAS J. WATSON JR., FOUNDER (1914-1993) JAMES S. ROCKEFELLER JR., FOUNDER STEVEN LANG, FOUNDER
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BOARD OF TRUSTEES Thomas H. Rudder, Chairman Gary C. Dunton, Co-Treasurer John D. Karp, Co-Treasurer John Harris, Secretary Duncan W. Brown Matthew Orne Rodney D. Gray James S. Rockefeller Jr. Robert T. Jacobs Molly Shanklin John D. Karp Norman Shanklin Steven Lang John Ware Sr. Steven Levesque Lawrence Woodworth
Emeritus Charles Chiarchiaro, Director Emeritus Kenneth Cianchette, Lester W. Noyes, Francis J. O’Hara, George Phocas Strut & Axle Staff Editor & Digital Storyteller Thomas Goodwin Creative Director Kat Stuart Contributors Kevin Bedford, Sarah E. Dunne, Warren Kincaid, Rob Verbsky Copy Editors Sophie Gabrion, Kathryn Pardo MISSION The Owls Head Transportation Museum is a nonprofit educational organization. Its mission is to collect, preserve, exhibit and operate pre-1940 aircraft, ground vehicles, engines and related technologies significant to the evolution of transportation for the purpose of education. Strut & Axle is the quarterly publication of the Owls Head Transportation Museum’s Lang Education Center. P.O. Box 277, Owls Head, ME 04854 Tel: (207)594-4418 • Email: info@ohtm.org Web: owlshead.org
First to Five By Kevin Bedford
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Building Military Aviation in WWI By Rob Verbsky
13 Great Race Wrap-up 14 From the Toolbox WWI on II Wheels By Warren Kincaid CAPT. CHARLES A. ADAMS, USN, GREETS WOMEN’S MOTOR CORPS VOLUNTEERS
Executive Director Kevin Bedford
From the Cockpit
18 Flivvers at the Front By Sarah E. Dunne
25 Innovations of War By Thomas Goodwin
29 Staff Updates 30 Rearview Mirror By Sarah E. Dunne ON THE COVER: WRAF dispatch rider on Phelon & Moore motorcycle, 1918
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FROM THE COCKPIT
First to
FIVE by Kevin Bedford, Executive Director
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S I WRITE, two of Formula 1’s most talented drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, are battling hammer and tong to be the first of their generation to achieve five wins in 2018 and, with luck, be on their way to becoming a five-time World Drivers’ Champion. Only two others have reached this pinnacle before, Juan Miguel Fangio in 1957 and Michael Schumacher in 2002. With subsequent victories in 2003 and 2004, Schumacher’s seventitle world record became the benchmark for younger drivers like Vettel and Hamilton to reach or exceed. Their competition will form the stuff of legends for another five years or more. Those who follow F1 will rightly make much of the role that technology plays in defining the potential of any driver or team. History is at stake of course, and not insignificantly, hundreds of millions of dollars in prize 4
money as well. The pace of development is relentless. The role of advancing technology in determining a victor has appeared throughout history. Within the scope of the Museum’s mission and collection we can see this no more clearly than in this issue’s theme: the First World War. The new and rapidly developing technologies of motorized transportation fit perfectly into the overall mechanization of war. While armies could move more quickly than ever, so too the machinery of combat became more lethal than previously imagined. Tom Goodwin’s article, “Innovations of War,” describes this advancement in one important arena of weaponry: the machine gun. With dominance of the battlefield seemingly assured by waves of bullets and combatants famously consigned to a brutal life in the trenches or death outside of them, the fledgling technology of powered flight added a new diStrut & Axle
F R O M
T H E
mension of control to those who could command it. But it’s a big sky and victory could not be guaranteed simply with the best aircraft design; you also needed them in greater numbers. The difficulties of producing large numbers of aircraft quickly enough to keep the pace of relentless development are clearly illustrated in Rob Verbsky’s piece, “Building Military Aviation in World War I.” Back on the ground, the needs of communications and support were buoyed by the repurposing of well-accepted motorized ground vehicles—
C O C K P I T
motorcycles and Model Ts. Needing little new development, these robust and dependable stablemates found new lives in the muddy chaos of the front. In their articles, Sarah Dunne and Warren Kincaid recount stories of familiar civilian vehicles finding new roles amid the horror of war. Returning to the present, I will note that progress is being made in the development and construction of the Museum’s new exhibition, which speaks to the many technological advancements spawned during the First World War.
Last Chance The Museum's award-winning exhibit, Faster: The Quest for Speed, will be closing at the end of the year, so plan a trip today for one last chance to explore our take on this thrilling world of competition. Stay tuned for more details about the new exhibit that will focus on alternative energy, opening in 2019!
AUTUMN 2018 | owlshead.org
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Building Military Aviation in WWI by Rob Verbsky, PhD, Curator
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ORLD WAR I forced the expansion and maturation of the aviation industry from an artisanal craft into true mass production. At times, it was difficult to determine if the actions of government officials, industry leaders and workers was planned or improvised. Around the world, thousands of workers needed to be trained at the same time that military duty drained the pool of potential workers. Many of 6
the skills necessary to build aircraft at the time were converted from existing trades. Carpenters and cabinet makers constructed wings and fuselages. Seamstresses stopped making dresses and curtains to sew wing fabric. Even masons and bricklayers were needed to build the new factories and aircraft hangars necessary to house the growing industry. In Britain, the need for men in combat meant women held a variety of Strut & Axle
Propeller Department in the Curtiss Aeroplane Co. plant in Bualo. N.Y., 1916
skilled positions at the Royal Aircraft Factory, the producer of planes like the F.E.8. At the Farnborough factory, women served in both white-collar and blue-collar jobs. In the design departments, they produced the detailed plans to build the planes. The plans were then sent to the numerous furniture factories contracted to build the fuselages. Back on the factory floor, women worked as carpenters and welders, building parts for airframes and engines. When the United States entered the war in April 1917, the nation’s aviation industry was woefully behind the rest of the world. Prior to war, the U.S. aircraft industry produced fewer than 100 airplanes per year. As the war raged abroad, American manufacturers expanded and sold aircraft, engines and AUTUMN 2018 | owlshead.org
equipment to the warring nations. At the time, the largest U.S. aircraft company was the Curtiss Aeroplane Company, which was already supplying aircraft to Allied nations such as the United Kingdom, Russia, China and Sweden. Curtiss sold $15 million worth of aircraft to the British before the U.S. even entered the war. The American aircraft industry expanded dramatically in anticipation of the war. By the beginning of 1917, the United States boasted 47 active aircraft manufacturers, 36 engine makers and more than 100 related companies (services, parts, etc.). Manufacturers offered at least 44 different aircraft models available with a range of wingspans and capacities. However, of all these companies, only six had built more than 10 airplanes prior to the war. 7
Fabric Department sewing wing covers at the Standard Aircraft Corp., Elizabeth, N.J., 1918
As U.S.-German relations soured in 1916, Congress appropriated $17 million to build up American military aviation. Even for the costs of the day, this was insufficient, since American military aviation was small and antiquated. Four months before entering the conflict, the U.S. Army and Navy owned a mere 102 airplanes. When the United States declared war in April 1917, the two services only had 104 trained pilots. Once the United States entered the war, officials planned a dramatic expansion of military aviation. General Benjamin Foulois drafted a plan to build more than 22,000 aircraft and 44,000 engines. In July 1917, Congress appropriated $640 million to buy aircraft, build airfields and train personnel. By comparison, a new Curtiss Jenny cost $5,000 in 1917, and the average military airplane $8,700. 8
Army officials recognized they could not design and produce new aircraft and get them into combat quickly. Instead, more than a hundred military
Col. Raynal Cawthorne Bolling Strut & Axle
BUILDING MILITARY AVIATION IN WWI
officers and technicians traveled to Europe to study foreign aircraft in May 1917. The Bolling Commission, led by Col. Raynal Cawthorne Bolling, visited British, French and Italian aircraft factories, reviewed engineering drawings, and negotiated potential cooperation. Of the three nations, only the British offered the Americans full access to their facilities and full rights to produce aircraft and engines, while both the French and Italians sought to maintain intellectual and financial control of anything the United States produced. The decision to share knowledge and production was only the beginning of the transatlantic learning curve. To begin with, American factory workers needed to convert all measurements from metric to standard. Another issue confronting manufacturers was the differences in their factory culture. Even in 1917, the British aircraft industry still followed a craftsman philosophy of “fits” in which skilled workers matched and altered parts to assemble each airplane. The American philosophy focused on “tolerances” in which engineers developed jigs and tools so lower-skilled workers could more easily assemble airplanes like a puzzle. The benefit of the American system was the re-engineered DH-4 plane, which was 55 pounds lighter than the British version but carried 200 pounds more fuel and armament. Between the British sharing aviation expertise with the United States and the armistice declaration a mere 18 AUTUMN 2018 | owlshead.org
months after U.S. entry, the de Havilland DH-4 was the only combat aircraft to be mass produced and entered into combat. The United States ordered 10,000 aircraft and divided production among the Dayton-Wright Aircraft Company (5,000), Fisher Body Works (4,000) and Standard Aircraft Company (1,000). Of those contracted, only 3,421 were produced before the armistice declaration on November 11, 1918, and a mere 1,213 reached Europe. Another 1,400 aircraft were produced before the U.S. government cancelled the manufacturing contracts in March 1919.
Army officials recognized they could not design and produce new aircraft and get them into combat quickly. In September 1917, Curtiss tried to add an American-built fighter to the war when officials struck a deal to build 3,000 SPADs and 500 Caproni bombers for the U.S. Signal Corps; however, numerous problems derailed the project. Instead of receiving blueprints to produce the plane, the company received the actual airplane to reverse engineer. Whenever design drawings neared completion, military officials requested changes be made to address German advances. Three months later, with the Curtiss SPADs still on the drawing board, the government cancelled the project when military officials decided the SPAD was obsolete. 9
1917 SPAD XIIIC.I (representation aircraft from the OHTM collection)
Expanding the Industry Considering WWI’s reputation as a major evolution of industrial warfare, aircraft manufacturing in 1914 was more artisanal craft than mass-produced product. Harrie Greene, an assembly gang worker for Curtiss, described the assembly area as “[w]e set a pair of wheels on the floor and we’d build a plane on it.” Workers relied on the memory of experienced workers and pooled their effort, building and modifying each airplane until it met its flight requirements. Glenn Curtiss recognized he and his business were unprepared for the shift to mass production on a scale to serve the U.S. war effort. His solution was to sell controlling interest in the company to John N. Willys, of WillysOverland fame. Since the automobile industry had already solved many of the problems related to mass production, Curtiss hoped they could do the same for the aircraft industry. Before the war, Curtiss never had more than 100 employees and the entire company easily could be housed in Curtiss’ small hometown of Ham10
mondsport, N.Y. When he signed contracts in 1915 to build aircraft for Allied nations, he realized the company had outgrown the community. To access the skilled workers, raw materials, and transportation systems needed as the world’s largest aircraft manufacturer, Curtiss opened a new factory in Buffalo, N.Y., then the 10th largest city in the country. Within two years, employment at Curtiss increased from 100 to more than 16,000. This required a massive training program to teach people who may have never seen an airplane fly, how to build one. To mass produce aircraft, the industry shifted from Greene’s experience to specialization. Soon, the company was employing patternmakers, machinists, toolmakers, electricians and workers in other skilled trades. With this specialization, the workers identified with their specific tasks rather than as aircraft builders. Throughout 1917-8, different trades went on strike for better pay and other issues, rather than as a united effort of all aircraft workers. Machinists for example, who worked for Curtiss, were Strut & Axle
BUILDING MILITARY AVIATION IN WWI
more concerned about comparing their experiences to machinists at other Buffalo factories rather than to the experience of all Curtiss employees. Thousands of workers also quit the company for normal complaints like scheduling and pay. From October through December 1917, Curtiss hired 11,000 workers, but more than 5,000 resigned during the same period. Some workers found it “unfair and unjust” when they only worked a few hours some weeks followed by 10-12-hour workdays with no days off to maintain production quotas. Among the causes were the individual trade strikes that stopped the assembly line. Another cause that was beyond corporate control occurred when Army officials requested design changes that upset production schedules, but contract deadlines did not account for these challenges. Others left because Curtiss paid less than other war industries. With labor shortages throughout the country, skilled workers could continue serving the war effort with higher wages elswhere. For
Curtiss, this was the downside of moving from rural Hammondsport to industrial Buffalo; there was much greater competition for skilled labor. Aircraft parts makers also had trouble keeping up with war demands. Before the war, American Propeller and Manufacturing Company (APMC) was a small design firm producing custom propellers. During the war, they became the primary supplier of military propellers. Desperate to increase capacity in the winter of 1917, the company forcibly evicted a neighboring box factory. Concerns of sabotage required a military guard to be stationed at the factory for the duration of the war. In the summer of 1918, APMC was producing 90-150 propellers per day for both combat and training airplanes in three factories. In August 1918, they more than doubled capacity when they opened a fourth factory capable of producing 300-500 propellers per day. By the end of the war, the company produced 75 percent of all American propellers in four Baltimore, M.D. factories. In 1920, the box
Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Co. plant under construction, Buffalo, N.Y., 1917 AUTUMN 2018 | owlshead.org
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BUILDING MILITARY AVIATION IN WWI
factory owner, Ralph Sapero, sued APMC over the eviction, but the outcome of his lawsuit is unknown. After the war ended in 1919, the government cancelled contracts with the companies producing aircraft, engines, parts and more. The military also sold off much of the aircraft and equipment it had acquired during the 18 months of war. The Curtiss Aeroplane Company alone spent $20 million to buy surplus airplanes and engines at a cost of 13 cents on the
dollar. Curtiss and other companies refurbished thousands of Jennys, Standard J-1s, and OX-5 and Liberty engines and resold them on the civilian market throughout the 1920s. This flood of inexpensive equipment disrupted the aircraft market and was one of the many reasons aircraft manufacturers failed in the 1920s. It took the maturation of commercial aviation in the 1930s and the military build-up for World War II for aircraft production to completely recover.
Help us get ready for another season. Check out our wish list and contribute today! Autoshop Complete socket sets of all varieties, standard and deepwell sockets in 3/8 and 1/2 inch drive. Would prefer Sears Craftsman, Snap-on or Husky or other high quality brand Model T parts for the Volunteer T project A set of new tires (30x3.5 clinchers) Two professional quality heavy duty battery chargers (on wheels) 6 volt and 12 volt with high amp ratings and timer Several new (or near new) cordless electric reversible drills of good quality Quincy 60-Gallon electric air compressor from Lowe's Maintenance ATV in gently used condition in either 2 or 4 wheel drive with a dump body Carpet shampooer of commercial grade Membership & Development Two ipad Tablets with chargers. Heavy-duty hole-puncher, 30+ sheets 12
Video Black Gaffer's Tape, AA Batteries Headphones Operations Laser Measure, 40'+range Whiteboards Auction Macbook: new or refurbished Education Back issues of the VMCCA’s Bulb Horn magazine from 1995 through the May/June 2016 Mannequins and mannequin heads in good condition, adult and/or child Visitor Services Wheelchair(s) Clothing racks for store- preferably 10' long with 2 rails For more information and to donate items, contact Gabriel: gm@ohtm.org or (207) 594-4418 Strut & Axle
OHTM Great Race City Stop (from left to right: Maine Cabinet Masters Crew, Cokey Coker, Team OHTM).
GREAT RACEWrap-up! Our intrepid racers have returned from their nine-day, 2,300-mile adventure from Buffalo, N.Y. to Nova Scotia, and the results are in!
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his summer, the Museum competed for the first time in the nationally-renowned Great Race, operating a 1935 Ford V8 Phaeton donated by Harvey Geiger of Hilton Head, S.C. Sponsored by Winn & Judi Rittall of Woolwich, Team OHTM was made up of three staff members (Toby Stinson, Aedan Jordan and Warren Kincaid) and long-time automotive volunteer Ron Quebec. On the rally’s fifth day, the Museum hosted a City Stop along the official race route, welcoming the entire Great Race entourage and the general AUTUMN 2018 | owlshead.org
public for a free admission day filled with festivities and family fun. Thanks to the dedication of staff and volunteers, the Museum received the 2018 Best Lunch Stop Award. Team OHTM finished 34th overall out of 117 teams and earned 2nd place in the Rookie Team class. The team also brought home five Ace Awards, earned for achieving a perfect time on any individual leg of the nine-day race. Your continued support helps us represent the Museum’s mission across the country and beyond. Thank you! 13
FROM THE TOOLBOX
WWI
on II Wheels by Warren Kincaid, Gound Vehicle Conservator
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T’S NOT EASY to write about a topic as grim as war, but how do we learn if we don’t observe and reflect? Human genius can be found equally on the side of creation or destruction, depending on the pressures of its time. In an era when a massive conflict was being described as “the war to end all wars,” we can expect to find technology forging its way ahead of people’s ability to limit or manage the resulting destruction. Machines were coming of age: metal ships powered by steam instead of sail, maneuverable tanks, crafts that flew, and
Dispatch riders on His Majesty’s Service on the home front 14
cannons pulled without horses. Every new contraption was under scrutiny for its adaptation in battle. Even the lowly motorcycle did not escape a closer look. The history of motorcycles actually predates that of automobiles, and a different war was being waged in the marketplace between cars and motor bikes at the turn of the 20th century, some 14 years before the “Great” war. At that time, motorcycles had advantages that cars did not. Cost, ease of maintenance, agility, speed, and endurance made sure that motorcycles had a strong foothold in the transportation market. However, by 1914 motorcycles were beginning to lose the civilian advantage over cars. As a result, motorcycle sales began to slide. Marketing strategies began to shift, but the writing was on the wall. Motorcycle production was going downhill with no end in sight. That is, until Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife were assassinated by a chap named Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo. This event, although totally unrelated Strut & Axle
Motorcycle machine gun crews, France, circa 1918
to declining motorcycle sales, led to the salvation of the major motorcycle manufacturers, at least for a time. The assassination touched off World War I and ultimately all the transportation needs of war. America was a latecomer, entering the conflict in April 1917 while the war actually started in 1914. The British were already manufacturing motorcycles, but in the British tradition, these were light and small. Brute power was not their forte. Triumph supplied the popular Model ‘H,’ which gained the nickname “Trusty,” but with only 4 hp, its uses were limited. This brings us to the point: what uses in war could a motorcycle have? The first and most important was the quick delivery of battlefield information. Their most popular use was as couriers. In the AUTUMN 2018 | owlshead.org
hands of a skilled rider, a motorcycle can navigate challenging terrain at great speeds. In times of war, accurate intelligence delivered quickly can be as valuable as bullets. Motorcycles outfit-
The British were already manufacturing motorcycles, but in the British tradition, these were light and small. Brute power was not their forte. ted with sidecars could double as light ambulances moving the wounded behind the lines to field hospitals. Sidecar rigs were also used to carry officers much like Jeeps did in WWII. Stretching the limits of what a motorcycle 15
Soldiers practice with a side-mounted machine gun on a late-war Harley Model ‘J,’ featuring chain tread on rear tire
could do, some were modified to carry machine guns on tripods where the sidecars were once fitted. However, looking at the vintage photos of these machines, they do not inspire confidence.
Military cyclists in primitive gas masks 16
When America entered the war, the major motorcycle manufacturers were given healthy contracts. Indian had the advantage, landing a promise of 50,000 units, followed by HarleyDavidson at 20,000. Basically, the civilian models were transformed into the military models. Indian’s ‘Power Plus’ 61 ci series morphed into military trim the same way Harley-Davidson’s ‘J’ series did simply by painting them in drab green. Both were rated at 15 hp. The now-minor motorcycle makers landed a few contracts as well. Excelsior and Henderson were represented in Europe but in fewer numbers. Luckily, the strength and speed of American motorcycles matched the demands of the terrain and needs placed on them. That would not have happened even five years earlier. It’s not often thought about, but motorcycles filled a vital gap Strut & Axle
FROM THE TOOLBOX
in the changing demands of wartime service. Those demands are absent from civilian use. While motorcycles continued to be produced for civilian sales, production numbers continued to slide after the war ended. A very similar story could be told about motorcycles during WWII; however by then, only the strong had survived the Great Depression. I notice that the word “Great” was used back then to describe things that were not so great for the people who had to live through them. I also find it interesting that while motorcycles today have a
firm market in the category of civilian sport and pleasure, the military still finds them useful at times. The most recent example would be the conflicts in the Middle East, where desert terrain and bikes seem to go together naturally. In retrospect, the motorcycle’s growth and utilization during the war pales in comparison with other technologies of the time, and it’s probably better that way. Maybe some things should be reserved more for fun than utility. Especially the kinds of utilities found on the battlefield.
Support the Owls Head Transportation Museum
As part of this community you understand the value and power of our mission to preserve and demonstrate as a means to educate. We ask that you make a choice in support of the Owls Head Transportation Museum. Every dollar you give helps keep that mission at the forefront of our efforts for education and historical preservation. Donate online at OWLSHEAD.ORG or contact Gabriel at gm@ohtm.org / (207)594-4418 AUTUMN 2018 | owlshead.org
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Flivvers at the Front
by Sarah E. Dunne, MLIS, Librarian & Archivist “From the outset it was clear that the saving of soldiers’ lives depended quite as much upon the quick transportation of the wounded as upon their surgical treatment, and in September, 1914, when the battle front surged close to Paris, a dozen automobiles given by Americans, hastily extemporized into ambulances, and driven by American volunteers, ran back and forth night and day between the western end of the Marne Valley and Paris. This was the beginning of the American Ambulance Field Service.” — Leslie Buswell, British-American ambulance corps volunteer: Ambulance No. 10, 1916
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DURING WORLD WAR I, there were multiple American-funded and operated ambulance corps in France, from the American Field Service (AFS) and the Red Cross-affiliated Women’s Motor Corps and NortonHarjes Ambulance Corps to the smaller corps attached to individual hospitals; for the most part, I will not distinguish between them. The following is not an attempt at a full overview of the United States’ contribution to the WWI ambulance services in Europe; that is a far more complex story than can be adequately addressed here. This is the story of how the quintessential American automobile became the ambulance car of the Great War. Who would have believed that Strut & Axle
American Red Cross ambulances and drivers in England, headed to the Italian front
the often temperamental, seemingly rickety Model T Ford, the brainchild of a confirmed isolationist who was steadfastly opposed to the United States’ intervention in foreign affairs, would play such a crucial role for the Allied cause in WWI beginning years before the U.S. entered the war? There are more romantic stories from the Great War, such as that of the Lafayette Escadrille, the Americans who joined the French flying service long before the United States formally entered the fray. But many of these aviators started out in the ambulance corps; nearly 60 of the American volunteers who served in the Lafayette Escadrille in 1916-17 had seen service with either AFS or Norton-Harjes, as had hundreds of the Americans who AUTUMN 2018 | owlshead.org
Capt. Charles A. Adams, USN, greets Women’s Motor Corps Volunteers
joined the Army Air Service after the United States finally joined the fight. The latter group included Sumner Sewall, Maine’s sole WWI ace. 19
FLIVVERS AT THE FRONT
Behind the scenes, prominent Americans such as Anne Harriman Vanderbilt, her husband William Kissam Vanderbilt Sr., and Dr. Edmund L. Gros were essential to founding and maintaining not only the American Field Service but also the Lafayette Escadrille. Gros used his personal and business associations to navigate the complex and not always supportive social, political, and military networks necessary to set up the AFS and then the Escadrille while the United States was still officially neutral. The Vanderbilts acted as financial backers for both services, including donating the first 10 AFS ambulance cars (and more thereafter). Anne worked directly with Ford’s American assembly plant manager in France. Initially there was French resistance to foreign involvement in medical care for its troops (could the foreigners be spies for the Germans?), including the conversion of existing American hospital facilities in France to war work. In some cases, even the American hospitals were reluctant to branch out into not only caring for the wounded, but also providing transport for them—that was traditionally “someone else’s responsibility.” Rapidly, it became clear that every available bit of help was needed, and rich and/or politically connected Americans were able to persuade the French to accept their help and fund these new ventures. The reluctance of French citizens to allow their private cars to be used for the war effort, and of French hotels to 20
provide facilities for housing and treating the injured, helped convince French officials to accept help from outside. Americans were far from alone in offering transportation assistance; other foreign motor corps in Paris also evolved, including teams of women and men from England, Canada, Spain and Scandinavia. The combination of American “wheels on the ground” support and its wealthy patrons has a quirky connection to the Museum’s collection. In 1913, Alice Longfellow, daughter of renowned American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, was exchanging copious letters with Rolls-Royce, discussing such burning matters as potential upholstery colors for her yetunbuilt touring car. Eventually she made up her mind, and the car was delivered to Italy, just in time for her Grand Tour of Europe . . . and the inconvenient outbreak of “the war to end all wars.” Her original plan had been to leave Italy on the first of June, 1914, and with her young niece tour Germany, Switzerland, and Austria on their way to France. Needless to say, the June 28 assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand necessitated a change of plan. Alice may have been raised a privileged intellectual, but she did not sit idly by and write sonnets about the war from the comfort of a luxury hotel. In some accounts, Longfellow is said to have donated her Rolls-Royce to the Ambulance Corps in France. She did not, else the car would likely not have Strut & Axle
Helen J. Owen, YWCA automobile expert and ambulance driver, working on a Model T in France
survived to become a favorite OHTM vehicle, amazing Museum visitors when they learn that this elegant artifact is roadworthy and registered— even more so when they’re offered a ride in it. What Alice did do was donate money, a great deal of it, to numerous French war relief services. She gave enough to the AFS that its Ambulance No. 88 was named in her honor. That ambulance was, of course, a Model T. While the majority of the first American drivers came from Ivy League schools, other colleges, universities, and even high schools across the United States encouraged students to join the relief efforts overseas as drivers and medics. Many of these young people came from well-to-do families at a time when attending college was a rare opportunity, available primarily to a few privileged Anglo males. Regardless, many felt a duty to do their part in the fight against what they saw as a serious threat to liberty and democracy. Others joined simply seeking adventure. Later ambulance corps alumni of note included Gertrude Stein and Alice B. AUTUMN 2018 | owlshead.org
Toklas, Ernest Hemingway, e.e. cummings, and John Dos Passos. Walt Disney and McDonald’s Ray Kroc both lied about their ages to volunteer but did not make it to the front before the armistice was signed. Stein and Toklas donated and drove a car of their own: they paid to have a Model T shipped over from the United States and converted to an ambulance. When it wore out they simply bought another and continued with their work.
But…Why the Model T? Despite Henry Ford’s vehement and vocal hostility towards the idea of the United States joining the war, once it appeared inevitable he dedicated much of his company’s manufacturing and technological prowess to helping the armed forces and relief efforts. In addition to producing many thousands of cars, trucks, ambulances, and tractors for the Allies, Ford joined other American auto manufacturers in building Liberty engines for military aircraft. From 1916 to 1919, Ford produced 26,515 Model Ts fitted out 21
FLIVVERS AT THE FRONT
specifically as military ambulances (not all made it overseas before the armistice). The basic Model T chassis, not the heavier duty Model TT, was the most commonly used. It was simple to fit various kinds of aftermarket bodies to the chassis, and rumor has it that the shipping crates for the first T chassis sent over were designed so that they could be converted to bodies for the cars. One great advantage of the Model T was its price: the average cost of a fully outfitted T ambulance was reported in early 1917 to range from $2,500 to $3,000. By comparison, a 1917 Cadillac ambulance started at $3,760 for just the basic vehicle. It was no threat to the battlefield supremacy of the T: the Allies found Cadillacs better as staff cars, not workhorses. Speaking of which, unlike actual horses, Model Ts shipped to Europe didn’t need time to become acclimatized, and shipboard personnel didn’t need to feed and clean up after them. A Model T can be crotchety, but it is lightweight and has notably high clearance, major advantages over most of the European motorcars of the time. And it is famously simple to repair. Some Packards and Buicks were used for ambulance work, and some European cars and light trucks were used throughout the war, but these were unreliable and harder to find parts for when they broke down. Pierce-Arrow too contributed vehicles to the war effort: not the sleek, elegant passenger cars we associate with them, but 2-and 22
5-ton trucks and even heavier armored cars. The archetypal American car became the Allies’ ambulance of choice. In mountainous regions, a T could go places difficult or impossible for other cars to access, where it often replaced the mules that had previously carried the wounded to field hospitals. Horsedrawn ambulances were still common as well. While we may find it amusing nowadays to see the Model T described as “a comfortable springed vehicle,” it truly was fast and comfortable compared to mule or wagon journeys that had been literally agonizingly slow and jolting for the injured. American benefactors also funded mobile field hospitals with fleets of T ambulances. “…the whole installation of ward tents, officers’ and nurses’ tents, operating-tents, mess-tents, etc., can be mounted by our men or demounted and packed on motor-trucks ready for transportation in less than three hours.” —Buswell, op.cit. Roads were narrow and rutted or muddy and had often been heavily shelled—or came under fire while ambulances were on them. If you needed to crank the car for an emergency call or fix a flat tire along the way, you had to do so even when subject to gunfire and shelling. Drivers worked through the night and when on call were often only able to snatch a little sleep on their stretchers. Many of the drivers’ memoirs discuss the horrors of war: the long hours; the notorious French bureaucracy; the Strut & Axle
FLIVVERS AT THE FRONT
mud and bad roads; unsafe water and inadequate food; overloaded ambulances with the less seriously wounded riding on the fenders or running boards; driving through gas attacks; the ever-present lice, fleas, and rats; and the worst of all, wounded passengers not surviving the journey. But always there is the sense that these were things that had to be dealt with in order to provide an essential humanitarian service. There are even touches of humor in many accounts; in
Misfortunes on the road
one, the writer mentions that their French cook had been an undertaker before the war and expresses surprise that the man’s cooking did not create more business for him. As the aviators did with their aircraft, the drivers often developed affection for or irritation with their specific cars and accredited them with specific personalities. One driver of Ambulance No. 10 (AFS) wrote, “The old car [which was in the battle of the Marne]seemed to know it was on a pretty dangerous trip and it went like a bird.” AUTUMN 2018 | owlshead.org
No. 10 became perhaps the most famous Model T ambulance. It was memorialized in several books by its drivers, one of whom was Jim McConnell; he went on to join the Lafayette Escadrille and was one of the most respected and well-liked American participants, both as a driver and as a pilot. Sadly, McConnell was killed in a dogfight in 1917. William Yorke Stevenson, who had driven with McConnell, detailed his experiences in the ambulance corps in his memoir, At the Front in a Flivver. When No. 10 finally wore out and had to be retired from service, Stevenson wrote: “One can but regret that the now historic ‘Ambulance No. 10’ will appear no more in the annals of the Field Service. It has done noble work, however, and should have a decent burial in some American War Museum. The celebrated ‘Flivver’, or ‘Tin Lizzie’…should not be allowed to end on a scrap-heap. She is a veteran, and deserves an honorable ending. We should not be ungrateful to a thing which has served us so faithfully.” To close, irreverently but in the spirit of the American ambulance workers, a verse from their spoof of the popular sentimental song “Put on Your Old Gray Bonnet”: The Helmet Song of Section 60
Put on your old gray bonnet With the strap ahangin’ on it, And we’ll go thru shrapnel & thru shellThen on roads of desolation We will cure your constipation With a wild night ride in hell! 23
German soldiers operating a mounted machine gun, likely a Maschinengewehr 08, a near-identical adaptation of the Maxim Gun
Innovations I never shall forget the way That Blood upon this awful day Preserved us all from death. He stood upon a little mound, Cast his lethargic eyes around, And said beneath his breath: “Whatever happens we have got The Maxim Gun, and they have not.” - The Modern Traveller by Hilaire Belloc, 1898
I
n the late 1800s, Maine-born inventor Hiram Maxim invented the first recoil-operated machine gun. This was a gun that, when kept cool, could continuously and rapidly fire bullets as long as it was being fed ammunition. While it may seem clunky by today’s standards (being stationary and requiring a crew of two-three persons to operate), this breakthrough changed the entire nature of warfare as the world knew it, and the opportunity to
of WAR by Thomas Goodwin, Digital Storyteller
prove itself was right around the corner. Regardless of the medium, an inventor’s mentality is to create time-saving devices. It was this, combined with the promise of success, that steered Maxim toward firearms. In 1882 I was in Vienna, where I met an American whom I had known in the States. He said: ‘Hang your chemistry and electricity! If you want to make a pile of money, invent something that will enable these Europeans to cut each others’ throats with greater facility. — Hiram Maxim
Hiram Maxim
Where there’s a war, there’s a way. The Maxim Gun was initially employed by the British during their imperial conquests at the turn of the century, and at the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 the principles of his original design remained sound. Variations of the Maxim Gun were used by many of the participating countries during the war, primarily along the western front.
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General John T. Thompson
In the early months, the Fight was viewed as one of valor and honor, like so many wars before. There was an image of the courageous soldier on horseback, proud of country, valiantly riding into battle whether it meant life or death. The machine gun shattered that image. The war became one of attrition; there was no crossing of “noman’s land” without facing unstoppable gunfire and artillery. Over the next four years, inventions and technology progressed at an alarming rate. The “whys” of the war 26
The war became one of attrition; there was no crossing of “no-man’s land” without facing unstoppable gunfire and artillery. had been steamrolled by the “hows”; ingenuities on the battlefield revealed ways to kill the enemy faster, and the soldier was reduced to a cheap target. It’s no wonder that the 10-month battle of Verdun earned the nickname Strut & Axle
INNOVATIONS OF WAR
“The Mincing Machine” because of the hundreds of thousands of casualties incurred due to the use of these deadly new technologies. While the war raged on, another American inventor, General John T. Thompson, was working on harnessing the power of the three-personcrewed, carriage-based Vickers-Maxim into a mobile machine gun that could be carried with ease by one soldier. The United States didn’t enter the conflict until 1917, but by that time Thompson was rounding the corner to completing a firearm that would once again revolutionize warfare. Our boys in the infantry, now in the trenches, need a small machine gun, a gun that will fire 50 to 100 rounds, so light that he can drag it with him as he crawls on his belly from trench to trench and wipe out a whole company single-handed… I want a little machine gun you can hold in your hands, fire from the hip and reload in the dark. — John T. Thompson By late 1918, such a firearm was ready to be shipped to the front lines. But the war was over. Crates of these “Thompson Submachine Guns” waited at docks to prove their salt in combat, but that day did not come. Ever ingenious, John turned his marketing efforts to civilians and local police forces. The Vickers Machine Gun, born of Maxim’s design, stayed in military service with some countries as late as the 1960s and could not lawfully be AUTUMN 2018 | owlshead.org
privately owned. However, because the Thompson Gun had missed its chance, it remained legal for a civilian in the United States to purchase and carry one during the 1920s. As the Jazz Age and Prohibition started to come into focus, so did the iconic “Tommy Gun.” One hundred years after the end of the First World War, we reflect on its vast outcomes. The good and the evil. The ways it has shaped the world we live in today. This article isn’t meant to be either praise or damnation of a hunk of metal, rather a story of these inventors and their reliance on conflict for success. What is the inventor’s responsibility to their creation’s power of destruction? In a 2012 letter, Mikhail Kalashnikov (inventor of the AK-47) asked his church: If my rifle claimed people’s lives, then can it be that I... a Christian and an Orthodox believer, was to blame for their deaths? — Mikhail Kalashnikov As witnessed time and again throughout conflicts during the 20th and 21st centuries, weaponized technologies reach imbalances with humanity. So in quiet reflection on the last century of innovation and the war where so much of it began, consider these words from a 1949 interview with Albert Einstein: “I do not know with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.” 27
Holidays at OWLS HEAD TRANSPORTATION MUSEUM
Sunday, December 2 Celebrate the season at our annual holiday open house. Enjoy free admission, family festivities, and meet Santa! With live music, refreshments, and special store discounts, there’s something for everyone! Event Hours: 11am – 3pm Museum Hours: 10am – 3pm
OCTOBER 27
MEMBER APPRECIATION DAY Saturday, October 27 | The Great Fall Auction
Members will have the opportunity to purchase/renew memberships at a REDUCED RATE In appreciation of your generous support of our Museum, we are hosting our last Member Appreciation Day in 2018, so mark your calendars now! Join us and know that your gift of membership makes our events possible.
Remember, memberships make for great gifts too! For information about membership or corporate sponsorship, call (207) 594-4418 or email member@ohtm.org
Staff Updates The 2018 Event Season kicked off with the highly anticipated arrival of three new staff members, each bringing a wealth of skills and experience to their programs. Learn a bit more about them below and help us welcome them to the team! Alex Campbell Visitor Services & Store Manager With a background in finance, Alex is always up for a challenge and enjoys the hunt to find new inventory items to delight visitors and commemorate their trip. When asked about the best part of working at the Museum, Alex didn’t even hesitate with his answer. “I just keep going back to the history of it all—it’s just so unreal. The amount of effort and design and innovation that went into these pieces just amazes me.”
Gabriel Mosse, MLA Director of Membership Joining the OHTM team was not simply an accident for Gabe, but rather the combination of two lifelong passions: museums and the transportation industry. Bringing both prior museum and membership experience to the table, he was hooked by the museum environment right after college. An avid automotive enthusiast, Gabe’s dream car is an Aston Martin DB4, although he concedes something more practical like a Jeep Grand Cherokee is necessary for the winter commute.
Alison Weaver Volunteer & Administrative Coordinator After years of serving nonprofits in her own community, Alison came on board to lead the Museum’s volunteer program. She has a background working in social services and excels at bringing team members together to quickly troubleshoot issues as they arise. When asked what historical figure she would most like to have as a best friend, Alison chose Eleanor Roosevelt, saying she would love to ask the former First Lady of which accomplishment she was most proud.
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REARVIEW MIRROR
Lang Education Center
The more humane side of war: This ad from June 1918 used images of modern transportation, as well as the iconic nurse, to emphasize Allied cooperation and mutual support in the often intertwined civilian and military worlds.
Visit the Lang Library’s digital catalog ohtm.pastperfectonline.com To learn more about the Lang Education Center and to schedule archives tours, email Sarah at sd@ohtm.org. 30
Strut & Axle
THANk YOU ! To honor their exceptional commitments, we would like to recognize our Corporate Sponsors who support us at the $500 level and above.
Thomaston Place Auction Inc. Atlantic Insurance and Benefits Camden Riverhouse Hotel Cushing Diesel Service Reliable Carriers The Sheridan Corporation Northeast Transport Inc
ReVision Energy, LLC Uncle Henry’s Columbia Classic Cars O’Hara Corporation WMTW Channel 8
Members are the backbone of our museum. To celebrate their generous support, we would like to recognize our members who contribute at the $500 level and above.
Mr. Warren G. Herreid and Mrs. Jeannine Rivet Mr. and Mrs. David and Ginger Murray Mr. and Mrs. Harry and Jane Tiffany Mr. and Mrs. Joe and Isabella Germann Mr. and Mrs. David A. Lind Mr. and Mrs. Henry and Tamson Hamrock Mr. and Mrs. Gordon and Lisa Rapp Mr. and Mrs. John and Linda LaBarre Mr. and Mrs. John and Barbara Kulp Mr. and Mrs. Wayne and Amy Gould Mr. and Mrs. Richard and Beverly Norris Mr. Robert Calder Mr. Charles C. Edgar
IGNITE YOUR IMAGINATION!
PO Box 277, Owls Head, Maine 04854